Softening the Edges, or Everyday Philosophy, or The Proof is in the Pudding

Is it just me…

Is it just me, or are many of those claiming to be on the ‘spiritual path’ merely passive, afraid of confrontation, anger, hate and facing other ‘negative’ emotions. Forgive me for my overuse of quotation marks here but the words or phrases quoted are difficult categories for me to accept as real, or more appropriately, solid.

As a woman who would consider herself to have been on the ‘spiritual path’ for 4 years now, I’m coming to realize both slowly and surely that many of the things I considered ‘spiritual’ were merely defense mechanisms to avoid facing my own self-deprecating patterns embedded more in psychological categories than spiritual.

There is a term to define this: spiritual bypassing. It was first coined by author John Welwood and is used by integral theorist Ken Wilber to describe the tendency to focus on spiritual beliefs and practices to avoid and deny various aspects of earthly existence, mainly in terms of practical challenges, and unresolved emotions and memories.

The only way out is through, and is one of the most difficult things to face.